Second Chances
by Vulpixi Misa
Summary: ..Ike x Red.. Ike, meet pokemon. Pokemon, meet the Pokemon Trainer. Pokemon Trainer, meet Ike. Some implied dark themes.


Ike/Red again. Ahaha, fear me. I will rule the Smash Brothers world with this. I'm the number one princess after all. ...I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Again, there's a lot of Pokemon references. As in, ALOT. ...I like the idea of Ike being a sucker for cute critters. It's like Samus. gasp Ike stole Samus's buddy. Oh, he's going to get it... ...Yeah, don't mind me again. Just... read the fic please. Hopefully this Brawl will make more sense from the one I last wrote in Not The End. koff

Thanks again to my two sisters Hasukerz and Kyle for beta-reading. Though I'm going to have to say you guys didn't do as good a job as Faded. I don't blame you, Hasukerz is playing Mother3. Obviously it's more important than this fic.

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It was the first time he had seen the furry yellow thing. He had to admit, it was adorable. Even so, he knew not to judge an adorable creature by its looks and was cautious as to how to approach it. Kneeling down, he held a hand out to the rodent. Its black tipped ears twitched at the extended appendage.

"Chu?"

Swallowing the nervousness that accumulated in his throat, he placed a gloved hand on top of the creature's head and rubbed between its ears. The man smiled when the Pikachu gave out a delighted purr. It was then that Ike knew he was infatuated with Pokemon.

Pokemon played a big role in the world of Super Smash Brothers. Ike realized that when he noticed that several of the other characters were of the Pokemon world. There were also more of those creatures in the red and white containers called pokeballs. He was fascinated by the many types and varieties of them.

Because of their first meeting, Ike became very close to Pikachu. Not only that, Ike set out to meet and befriend every other pokemon in the Smash Brothers game. Jigglypuff was easy to approach, as it enjoyed the company of anything that had ears. Ike didn't learn about Jiggylpuff's song until he woke up a few minutes later with a face full of drawings. Lucario was a little bit harder to talk to, not because he didn't speak the human tongue, but because it was generally a loner type. Lucario wasn't the friendliest pokemon, but Ike did manage to grow a mutual acquaintanceship with the fighting/steel type.

There were more pokemon though. Ike was a bit confused as to how to approach this set, because apparently these pokemon were already owned by a trainer. He didn't think it would be any different. Pokemon were still pokemon; it was with the trainer he didn't know what to do.

He was always the straight forward kind of guy; that was how he did his things. Ike just walked up to the group when the Pokemon Trainer was grooming and training his faithful companions. The orange lizard named Charizard noticed him first. He must have thought Ike was a threat because it took a defensive stance and snarled at him.

Hearing his Charizard growl, the pokemon trainer drew his attention away from polishing Squirtle's shell. A look of confusion and a bit of fear was written on his face. At least, that was what Ike could make of it.

"Hi."

"…Hi?"

Wow, he didn't think it was this difficult to start a conversation.

"I'm Ike, one of the fighters in the Super Smash Brothers."

"I've… heard of you. I'm… I'm the Pokemon Trainer."

Ike had to raise an eyebrow at how the kid introduced himself. What the heck kind of name was "Pokemon Trainer"? And the boy admitted to taking up the name too. Well, he wasn't going to pry if it was the boy's personal preference.

"I can see that." Ike stated. He turned his attention towards the green monster with the giant flower attached to its back. It resembled a dinosaur a bit, but it also had a feline characteristic to it.

Much to the trainer's surprise, the mercenary bent down and reached a hand over to his Ivysaur. The grass/poison type didn't seem to find the blue haired man to be harmful and allowed him to pet him. Pokemon Trainer wanted to say something but Ike interrupted him before anything could come out.

"I'm sorry if I seem to come out a little nosy. I just wanted to see what kind of pokemon you owned." Ike chuckled when Ivysaur let out one of his vines to poke the mercenary's shoulder. "This one seems really friendly."

The pokemon trainer nodded and bit his lip. Ike didn't sense the nervous energy that was coming from the boy and made his way over to the giant orange dragon that had been keeping an eye on him since he made himself present.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you or your trainer."

The young trainer wanted to intervene. "I wouldn't…." He was shocked for a second time when his Charizard gently nudged his nose against Ike's outstretched hand. The fire dragon playfully nipped at the mercenary's dark headband strap.

"What's this one called, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Th-that's Charizard. He's part fire type and part flying type."

"Ah, fire." Was all Ike muttered as he continued to pat the fire dragon's head and neck.

Pokemon Trainer did little to mask the amazed expression on his face. No one had ever gotten that close to Charizard so quickly since many people were often intimidated by his size and appearance. A small part of the boy felt a sort of warmth towards this new stranger that had gained the trust of his loyal pokemon. But another part of the boy reminded him of what happened when one trusted strangers too quickly.

"If you're wondering why I'm not afraid of this guy, it's because I've seen a lot of dragons back in my home. There are a bunch that are probably twice the size of Charizard."

The boy nodded silently.

"Oh, sorry again if it seems like I'm just intruding. I'll be leaving now if I'm bothering you."

Ike gave the trainer a small wave and walked away feeling a sense of accomplishment though he wasn't quite sure what it was he accomplished.

**

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**

"There are over 150 types of pokemon in the world." Ike read in the thick red book that he had found when looking up information on the pocket monsters. "Today there is about 493 species of pokemon recorded up to date."

"Wow…" The mercenary couldn't help it. This was fascinating information. And according to the book, a pokemon trainer was supposed to attempt and catch all the kinds of pokemon.

"I wonder how much the boy has…" Ike muttered to himself as he flipped through the pages.

"Pika?"

Looking to his left, the electric rodent had a bag of potato chips. The Pikachu hopped onto Ike's leg and onto the table where the pokemon encyclopedia rested. The electric type opened the bag and offered it to the mercenary. Ike smiled warmly and patted Pikachu on the head, thanking him for the snack. He took a chip and crunched on it while he continued his reading.

It seemed like Pikachu knew what he was reading and hovered over the book too, as if reading with him.

"Haha, just looking up more information about your world, if you don't mind."

Pikachu nodded and "chu"ed adorably, taking a potato chip in its muzzle then resumed its "reading."

"There are different types of occupations that revolve around pokemon. The most common are the Pokemon Trainers, but there are also Pokemon Researchers and Coordinators. More details on these in chapter 6 and 9…"

**

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**

Ike could feel a trickle of sweat run down his forehead. On the other side of the podium stood the Hylian hero clad in green by the name of Link. The two swordsmen had a percent higher than 150 with only one stock remaining. This last move would be the one that decided it.

Link made the move and by then Ike knew he had this match. With a quick maneuver, Ike managed to switch the handling on his sword's hilt to look more like a defensive stance. By the time Link struck, the hero realized what the mercenary was up to.

"You're open!"

The Hylian was flung backwards by Ike's reflective counter and vanished off the screen.

"This game's winner is… Ike!"

Returning to the familiar room of Stage Select, Ike stepped out of the transportation pods to greet the other fighters.

Lucario, who had previously been knocked out nodded his regards towards the winner of the match and exited the room.

The other contestant, Pokemon Trainer, shook hands with Link and spoke a few lines. Ike noticed that the boy glanced towards his direction but immediately looked away when they made eye contact.

The blue haired sword fighter gave his regards to the Hylian and turned his attention to the pokemon trainer but by then the boy had already left the room, leaving a slightly disappointed Ike.

**

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**

"Puff! Jigglypuff!"

"I'm sorry, Jigglypuff, but whoever ate the last piece of cake surely didn't realize you staked claims on it."

Ike walked into the kitchen where Princess Peach was trying to calm the angered pink balloon pokemon. The princess noticed him entering and gestured for some help.

"Jigglypuff, you shouldn't be getting so worked up over a piece of cake. Perhaps that piece of cake just wasn't meant to be eaten by you."

The pink balloon pokemon didn't seem to be all that impressed with Ike's talk.

"How about a muffin? I heard Donkey Kong just baked some delicious banana nut muffins this morning." Peach tried to coax the normal type. "Come on, I bet it's yummier than that piece of cake anyway. And it's way more nutritious."

It looked like Jigglypuff just didn't care about what either human said and puffed out even more in its frustration.

"Squirtle, you know it wasn't right to take things that didn't belong to you. Now we should put the cake back where…" The pokemon trainer walked into the kitchen with a slice of cake in his free hand. The other hand was leading his turtle pokemon. "Oh, hello. I was just putting this back where Squirtle had nabbed it."

"Thank you, Red! Now here you go, Jigglypuff, you get to have your cake and eat it too!" Peach clapped her hands together and allowed Jigglypuff to reclaim his cake. "Thanks for your help too, Ike." She nodded to the mercenary before she left the room to attend to other things.

The room was left with Pokemon Trainer, his Squirtle, the Jigglypuff and Ike. The occupancy went down by one when Jigglypuff floated out the window, the piece of cake placed securely on his head.

Just as Ike opened his mouth to say something, the trainer picked up his Squirtle and muttered an "excuse me" and quickly left the room. The blue haired teen was left hanging in the kitchen.

**

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**

"Children are allowed to start their journey as a pokemon trainer at the age of 10. They generally receive their first pokemon from a regional professor along with the Pokedex. More information on Pokedex on page 63."

Ike looked up from the text. Did they honestly send out children at age 10 to go on a journey to capture more than 300 creatures? He vaguely wondered what the pokemon world was like if they placed so much trust in ten year olds to go on a journey alone. They must have incredible ethics if parents allowed adolescences to train with creatures that knew limitless power.

Lucario walked in at the moment, but Ike didn't seem to notice.

"Well, we send children Rolf's age to war, I don't think that's any better…" He muttered to himself. "Heheh, I wonder if Mist would like to be a pokemon trainer. I bet she'd adore having a Clefairy of her own."

"What are you researching on?"

Ike just realized that the Aura pokemon had been in the room and was watching him read. He chuckled sheepishly and confessed that he was looking up more information on the pokemon world. He was mildly surprised to see a smirk on Lucario's face. It was rare when the steel/fighting type would have an expression other than neutral.

"Do you have an interest in becoming a pokemon trainer?"

"Oh no, I just wonder what it's like to live in a world where Pokemon and humans can coexist. In my world, it seems like the beorc… the humans can never get along with the laguz. It's a little frustrating when wars are started over things like that. I'm sure what everyone really wants is some peace, but they're too stubborn to ever allow it."

"That's a shame. Even though pokemon and human generally coexist, there are groups that want to destroy that boundary and use pokemon merely as tool. These gangs dedicated themselves to capturing pokemon that already belong to a trainer and use them for their own greed and power."

Ike leaned back in his chair. "So the pokemon world isn't all fun and games, huh?"

"Of course not. Just because there are cheerful and carefree pokemon like Pikachu and Jigglypuff, there are pokemon like me that have experienced enough things in one lifetime." Lucario closed his eyes, as if to push back resurfacing memories.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, I heard you went through a war. That must be bad enough."

"Lucario?"

"What is it, Ike?"

"Do you mind if I ask… Do you… have a trainer?"

The steel type looked away. "I once had one. That is all you need to know." With that, Lucario exited the room.

Ike stared at the direction the Anubis pokemon left. Here he thought that the pokemon world was some kind of utopia but they faced problems too. He sighed and went back to his reading.

"The starting pokemon usually come in threes, each being a different type. Starter pokemon are generally fire, water and grass types. Table 2.3 shows the starters given out in different regions."

Ike looked at the chart and recognized the blue turtle labeled Squirtle. It was the water type starter for the Kanto region. He thought back to the pokemon trainer that resided in the Smash Brothers tournament. Well, now I know he's from Kanto, Ike thought.

**

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**

The general of the Greil Mercenaries took a step outside what was called the "All Star Garden," though he wasn't sure why because "All Star Mode" took place in a cave somewhere else. There were several of the younger Smash Brothers running around the grass, playing a game of what he assumed to be tag.

He noted the anthromorphic vulpine fighter, named Fox, sitting under the shade of a tree reading a newspaper and occasionally glancing up at the children playing as if to keep them out of trouble.

A quick and sudden black out of the sun made Ike look up into the sky. He spotted three silhouettes against the clear blue atmosphere. He recognized the giant orange dragon in the sky as the trainer's Charizard. Along with the fire/flying type, an angel garbed in white and a small warrior with bat-like wings (Ike recalled his name to be Meta Knight) flew circles above him and the rest of the foot dwellers.

When the trio landed, Ike realized that the Charizard had also been carrying his trainer on his back. He was reminded of the Wyvern riders back at home. Maybe he could ask Marcia or Jill about taking a ride on their mount sometime when he got back.

The Pokemon Trainer said something to the small dark warrior while the angel slapped the boy on the back and the two laughed at something. Ike was vaguely curious about what they were talking about, and more curious about the trainer since this was also the first time he'd seen the boy enjoying himself.

"See you some time later, Red! I have a meeting with Captain Falcon about something."

"Bye, Pit!"

Pokemon Trainer was patting and rubbing Charizard's wings and thanking him for the good job. The fire type snorted happily and rubbed his nose against the boy's face, knocking off the boy's hat.

"Aw, Charizard, cut it out! Haha! I'll give you your blocks later!"

Neither of the two seemed to notice Ike's presence until the wind picked up the trainer's red cap and deposited it near Ike's feet. The mercenary picked up the garment with all intents and purposes of returning it. However, the look that the boy was giving him made him think otherwise. Never the less, he made his way over to the trainer and his pokemon.

"Hey." Ike greeted while handing the hat back.

"Hi... Oh, thanks…" The teen replaced the hat back on the top of his head, pulling the rim of the cap lower than it had been before. He suddenly looked very tense.

"I…" Ike started. "Did I ever catch your name?"

"…" The boy looked away. "I told you it was Pokemon Trainer."

Ike looked skeptical and a little peeved too since he did not want to be taken for a fool. He did his research and he knew Pokemon Trainer was not a suitable name for a person. It was more of an occupation anyway.

"Is it really your name?" Ike asked, though he was not trying to be rude. He just wanted the truth. He didn't like being lied to.

"…Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be somewhere. Sorry." The boy ran off way too quickly, forgetting to return his Charizard back into its ball. The giant lizard looked apologetically at Ike as if saying "Forgive him, he's not always like this" before waddling forward to catch up with his trainer.

By now, Ike knew that something was up with the Pokemon Trainer.

**

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**

Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp.

Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp.

Stomp stomp stomp-

"Can you stop pacing around like that Ike? It's giving me a headache."

Ike snapped out of his supposed trance and looked over to the prince that had addressed him.

"Sorry, I was just… thinking."

"Obviously." Marth muttered under his breath as he took another sip of his jasmine tea.

"Mind if I ask what of Ike?" The other occupant of the small tea table asked as he put down his own cup.

Ike crossed his arms and looked over the Sheikah that accompanied Marth in his afternoon tea session. Thinking it over, he wasn't sure if it concerned either of the two Smash Brothers, but there was no point in keeping it a secret, especially because he was being asked about it.

"Do you guys know the Pokemon Trainer?"

Sheik and Marth took a look at one another, not knowing where their friend was going with this conversation. They both nodded as a reply to the given question.

"Is there… something weird about him?"

"I don't understand what you mean, Ike."

"Like, I don't know if it's just me, but he seems to want to avoid me. Am I… scary or something?"

Sheik laughed lightly behind the scarf that covered his mouth. Ike's lips thinned, he was completely serious about the question.

"We know you too well to answer that, Ike." Marth too was covering up a chuckle.

"And how do you know it's just you he's avoiding? Maybe he's avoiding other characters too."

"He's perfectly fine with everyone else, I'm sure." Ike thought out loud. "He'd even try to be friendly with someone like Bowser. I swear I'm the only person he refuses to talk to."

The Sheikah warrior raised an eyebrow. "And you know this… how?"

"I-" Ike paused. What was he supposed to say?

"You've been watching him, maybe?" Sheik replied knowingly. His dark red eyes seem to glitter with laughter.

"Ah, so Ike is attached to someone?" Marth smirked beneath his tea cup.

"W-what? I was just… I just wanted to know if he hated me or something. Nobody likes to be hated for no reason." Ike defended himself. Honestly, where are these two getting their ideas from?

"Well, I personally have no knowledge of his strange behavior, so I guess the best way to find out is to confront him about it."

Ike nodded. Well, he already thought about doing that. The problem was getting a hold of the trainer since it seemed like he was always getting ready to leave if Ike was present.

"Pika!"

The three men looked towards the source of the voice and found Pikachu holding a thick red book on its back. Ike smiled and took the heavy burden off the electric type, allowing it to climb up his arm to rest on his shoulder.

"Is it that time already?" He spoke to the yellow rodent, then to his other two friends, "I'll talk to you guys later, bye."

Ike left the two tea drinkers for the pokemon. Marth closed his eyes and put down his cup.

"What do you think… Princess Zelda?"

"Exactly what you assumed Prince Marth."

Ruler of Hyrule Princess Zelda now sat in the place of the Sheikah warrior. Her hands were folded in her lap and she smiled calmly. Being the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom, she knew more information than the average Hylian, or human.

"What an unlikely pair."

**

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**

"Pokemon can be given Pokeblocks or Poffin in order to increase the certain attributes. These are used often for Pokemon Contests by Pokemon Coordinators. However, Pokeblocks and Poffin can be used by regular trainers as a snack for deserving pokemon. Each pokemon has a favorite flavor depending on its nature."

Ike stared at the book. This information wasn't catching much of his interests. Flipping to the index, he looked up more about the trainers and battles.

"Pika?"

"Huh?"

The blue haired fighter noticed that Pikachu had turned its attention out the window. Standing up from the desk, Ike moved towards the light, opening the window to let in some fresh air. Not a moment too soon, a white sphere came hurdling towards the window, smacking Ike on the temple. The last thing Ike heard was a worried "Pikachu!" and then everything went black.

**

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**

"Well, it's not that bad. Nothing we can't handle." A young voice spoke.

"Piika…"

Ike blinked away the darkness. What the heck happened? His head was throbbing; something must have hit him hard.

"PK Healing Alpha!"

Immediately, the pain on his forehead vanished and Ike could think again. The mercenary opened his eyes to stare at dark brown eyes.

"Pikachu!"

"Oh hey, buddy. I didn't worry you too much, did I?"

Pikachu cooed softly, rubbing his cheeks against the mercenary's. Ike sat up and noticed that he was still in his reading room.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry about what happened."

He turned to the source of the voice. A young blond boy with wavy hair addressed him. Ike recalled the boy's name was Lucas. Standing behind Lucas was a young boy in a red baseball cap who smiled nervously. He also saw the other familiar red capped boy standing a little farther away from the first two.

"Sorry 'bout that. It was my fault. Lucas healed you though, so I hope everything is okay."

Ike nodded, accepting both apologies. "It's okay, I'm sure everything is still intact. Thanks for the healing."

Lucas gave a grin, as if saying it was no trouble at all.

"Guys, I think we should leave. We shouldn't bother him anymore."

All attention went to the door where Pokemon Trainer was standing. He had his hand on the knob, the door already half open.

"'Kay, coming Red." The blond said to the trainer, then to Ike, "Bye Ike, sorry about everything again." Lucas bowed politely and went to where the trainer was waiting. Ness followed shortly after giving his own apologies.

Ike watched the door close from the other side. He frowned bitterly.

**

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**

The Castle Ruins of Hyrule was where Ike appeared after the warp spell dropped him off. His tunic was currently of the darker red tone, so he would be able to distinguish between his team and the opposing one. He spied the anthromorphic wolf fighter on a lower level than where he was located. Wolf was wearing blue.

Jumping down from the higher platform of the stage, Ike was joined with a familiar blue turtle, which happened to be shaded a slight red color at the moment. Looking to the back of the stage, he saw the Pokemon Trainer in his red hued outfit.

"Hey."

The trainer looked more than a little startled when he heard the mercenary address him. He glanced sideways to where Wolf was slowly advancing towards his Squirtle.

"If you need a stock and I have some left over, feel free to take one. I'm going to need your help in this battle."

Ike wasn't sure what to take of the boy's silence, but by then he had to make a move or his head would have been struck by the laser beam that came from Wolf's gun. Landing in the entrance behind him, he found his other opponent in the form of a giant blue penguin by the name of King Dedede.

"Prepare yourself."

Ragnell gripped tightly, Ike ran towards the king. Side stepping a few Waddle Dees, the mercenary managed to land a punch, a kick and then a swing with his sword on the penguin.

King Dedede put up an amazing fight for a giant penguin wielding a huge hammer. The king of Pop Star managed to corner Ike into the tiny platform on the most bottom part of the stage. Dedede's amazing luck produced a Gordo from his pockets, which knocked Ike in the stomach and threw him off the platform.

Reappearing back on the higher part of the stage, Ike dropped down to where Ivysaur was fighting Wolf. Apparently Wolf and the Trainer had already lost one of their three stocks and Wolf was already up to 120% damage. When Ivysaur had grabbed Wolf with its Vine Whip, Ike took the chance to charge up a midair Eruption. The grass type saw this and threw the Wolf upward to where his teammate was. With perfect timing, Star Wolf's captain flew out of the stage.

Dedede was already at a high percentage, so with one hit of Ivysaur's Stun Spore, the king also lost a stock. Ike took the chance to look over at the trainer in the background. The trainer looked to be enjoying himself until he noticed that Ike was staring at him. Pokemon Trainer then called Ivysaur to jump onto the right side of the stage where the broken pillars lied.

Wolf came back and followed the grass/poison type to the other side. His partner landed next to Ike, separating the Red Team even further. Once again, Dedede and Ike faced off evenly matched.

More punches, headbutts and various objects were thrown back and forth between the two opposing players. Ike managed to trick the king into performing a Super Dedede Jump off the side of the platform, putting the Red Team at an advantage with 4 to 2.

Moving quickly before the penguin king could come back with a few seconds of invincibility, Ike leaped up the ledge that brought him close to the surface of the castle ruins. He spotted his team mate and the wolf fighting on the higher two platforms to the far side of the stage.

Ivysaur let out a barrage of Razor Leaves that Wolf dodged and reflected back. Ivysaur had already built up enough damage to be sent flying but it managed to stay alive with 180% damage.

Pokemon Trainer saw the mercenary make his way to the two combatants.

"Please stay out of this, I can handle this fine."

"As a team, I believe we're supposed to be helping each other." Ike shot back; mildly surprised the trainer had engaged him in conversation.

At that moment, Wolf landed a critical hit with the ends of his claws, damaging Ivysaur deeply. The grass type was thrown out of the ring immediately. The trainer bit his lip, cursing himself for his own mistake, and then threw out Charizard's ball.

By then, Dedede had managed to catch Ike off guard, upping the sword fighter's percent. Ike grunted as he was thrown back and landed a few feet from where the trainer stood. The mercenary jumped back on his feet before Wolf could grab him. He jabbed Star Wolf's captain with an elbow, then swung his Ragnell over his head, throwing it forward. The golden blade connected with the wolf's jaw, knocking Wolf off his feet and out of the stage.

With only one more opponent to worry about, Ike relaxed, but only a little. Just as Dedede rummaged his pockets to throw a minion at the bluenette, Charizard snuck up from behind and smashed a rock on the king's head. Given the opportunity, the mercenary performed a Quick Draw to close in on the king.

The king stood no chance as Ike and Charizard continued to gang up on him, never allowing him to get free. Dedede knew that the match was over as soon as Ike grabbed him by the robe. He was thrown down and stomped on, which caused him to fly up.

"Charizard, use Fly!"

The orange dragon propelled upward in one swift motion, smashing into the penguin. The force bounced Dedede out of the stage like a shooting star.

"And the winner is… Red Team!"

"You did it, Charizard!" The trainer patted the fire type's muzzle affectionately while the dragon scratched his head, as if embarrassed.

Ike glanced over at the boy giving his pokemon praise. He almost forgot to do his own victory pose.

**

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**

As soon as the fighters warped back to the Stage Select room, Dedede slapped Ike on the back and thanked him for a good fight. Wolf didn't bother and just left the room, grumbling about snot nosed brats and pretty boys. The penguin king shook hands with the trainer too before making his way to leave.

"Good fight." Pokemon Trainer muttered as he moved to the exit.

Before he could get out, the trainer was stopped by a hand on his wrist. Ike felt the trainer stiffen up immediately.

"I need to talk to you."

"…What is it?" The younger teen asked without turning around or making eye contact.

"What's wrong? Why do you keep avoiding me? Do I scare you?" The questions flowed through Ike's lips after having been bottled up for a long time.

"I… have no idea what you're talking about." Pokemon Trainer answered, looking down at his feet.

Without warning, a hand was slapped on his shoulder, roughly turning him around. Ike pushed his hand back so that the trainer was cornered against a wall. He's had enough of this game of cat and mouse; he wanted his answers and he wanted them now.

"Do not play dumb with me. You have been acting weird ever since I met you. Is there any reason why you treat me differently than the other Smash Brothers? Did I do something to offend you?"

"…" The trainer was doing his best to avoid eye contact with the mercenary. Still, he gave no reply.

"Red, answer me."

At the mention of his name, the trainer bristled. Apparently, Ike has struck a nerve because the trainer snapped his attention to him with such a menacing glare.

"Do not… call me that."

The grip on the trainer's shoulder tightened. "You haven't answered me. Why are you treating me like that? Have I offended you some way? What did I do wrong? How can I make it up to you?"

A long silence passed the two. Ike kept his full attention on the Pokemon Trainer. The younger teen seemed to be having an internal argument because he would glare at nothing then shake his head.

"…You didn't do anything." The trainer spoke at last.

Ike blinked. He… didn't do anything wrong. And yet… he's still being ignored and avoided. What was that supposed to mean?

"…So you just hate me, is that it?"

"…You… you look too much like him." The trainer finally confessed.

"I… resemble someone you knew?"

A pained expression crossed the pokemon trainer's face which Ike caught.

"I met him on my way to Ecruteak City. I got lost on the way there and he wanted to help me." Red laughed bitterly and shoved a hand in his face. "I should have known better to trust him, but I did. I've always trusted the people I met.

"Little did I know he was a member of Team Rocket. Apparently, I had beaten him too badly back in Kanto and he wanted revenge. He took it when we were setting up camp that night. It was just the two of us in the middle of the woods."

Red clutched his arms tightly, his face grew dark. "He could have just taken my pokemon, my badges, my money, but he didn't."

Ike could tell the boy was shaking from the hand that was still on his shoulder. He realized now what trauma the teen had gone through and why he had always seemed so nervous around him. Using the hold he still had on the trainer, Ike pulled the boy close to him.

As soon as Red realized what Ike was doing, he put up a frantic struggle. The memories of that night flashed through his mind, the fear was resurfacing. He didn't want to feel that pain again.

"Please calm down. I won't hurt you." He heard the older teen whisper in his ear. The voice sent shivers down his spine, making him even more determined to leave the embrace.

"Red, please. I don't know how you feel right now. I can't say I've been through what you have, but I just want you to know that it's going to be okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Ike continued to talk over Red's shoulder. His grip around the boy slackened as he felt the trainer relax, if only a little.

"I promise I'm not going to let anything else happen to you. Please, trust me."

Those words hit Red hard, and suddenly his eyes became blurry.

"I…" The trainer started in a low tone. "I trust you…" He whispered as tears flowed down his cheeks. He made a move to grab the back of Ike's cape, pulling himself closer into the mercenary's embrace.

**

* * *

**

"Ike? You in here?" Red asked as he opened the creaky door to the mercenary's usual hideout.

"Hm?" Ike hummed without looking up from the book. Pikachu gave Red a gesture as if not to disturb.

"You reading that book again?"

"Mhm." The mercenary answered half-heartedly as he flipped a page.

Pokemon Trainer rolled his eyes. He was aiming for Pokemon Master and even he didn't study this hard. Well, besides the fact that he knew all the basics, Red preferred learning from experiences. He twitched slightly at the recall of his memory but noticing Ike slip a page holder between the pages, Red straightened himself out.

"So what are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you if you wanted to play baseball with Ness, Lucas and I. You up for it?"

"Not really, I'm not much of a fan of that game."

Red pouted. Then an idea struck him. "How about a pokemon battle?"

Ike raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"If you play with us, I'll have a pokemon battle with you later."

"Red, in case you haven't forgotten, I don't have a pokemon. I'm not a trainer like you, you know."

"Pika!" The electric rodent chimed at the moment. It seemed like he was interested in Red's proposal.

"Looks like you got yourself a pokemon, Ike. So what do you say? Play with us? Pleeeease!?"

Ike sighed. "Fine, fine. But you're using Squirtle against Pikachu, okay?"

"Sure, I'll show you that type advantage doesn't mean everything. I'll teach you more than that dusty old book can." The trainer smirked confidently.

"Whatever you say. I thought we were going to play baseball."

"We are!" Red laughed as he grabbed a hold of Ike's arm, dragging him out of the room, Pikachu tagging along.

**

* * *

**

I don't remember why I suddenly got up and finished this. I guess I just finally got all my thoughts down.

I pulled a Ghibli film. Hur. In which I take the two characters that didn't seem like anything romantic and I implied romance through the use of other characters. Ahahaha. …If anyone didn't get that, Ike and Red probably could have just been really close friends, but because Marth, Sheik and Zelda said they were in love, then they were in love. XP

Oh yeah, I made Sheik male here. I'm personally a believer of male!Sheik, unless he's being pairing up with a girl, then he's female. And Brawl!Sheik is actually female since there is no such things as TP!Sheik. So I have no idea why I did that. I think I just wanted male!Sheik to drink tea with Marth. …And no, I'm not implying that Marth is gay or metro or anything. It's just a thing I do in my fics, Marth is just always being a fancy pants and drinks tea.

I thought it was kind of funny how this was the exact opposite of Not The End. Here, it's kind of like Ike is chasing Red, while Red was chasing Ike in the other one. Nwehehe.

Oh, and the Team Rocket character that betrayed Red's trust is totally made up for the sake of this stupid story. It didn't even have to happen, but it did for the sake of getting Ike and Red closer to one another.

I should go to sleep. It's 2 and I have class at 8 tomorrow. OTL


End file.
